Horseshoe.



J. BIRD.

HORSESHOE.

APPLICATION, FILED on. 28. 1914.

1,1 48,886. Patented Aug. 3, 1915.

manna- Witnesses. inveigr. flM/m W COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH ca WASHINGTON, D. c.

JOHN B131), 013 TORONTO, ONTARIO, CANADA.

I-IORSESI-IOE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 3,1915.

Application filed October 28, 1914. Serial N 0. 869,145.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, JOHN BIRD, a subject of the King of Great Britain, and resident of the city of Toronto, county of York, Province of Ontario, in the Dominion of Canada, have invented certain new and use ful Improvements in Horseshoes, described in the following specification and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, that form part of the same.

The principal objects of the invention are to provide a secure foot hold for horses upon slippery pavements thereby obviating dangers incident to greasy and frosty or icy surfaces.

A further and important object of the present invention is to devise a form of horseshoe having a resilient'tread which will relieve the strain of travel upon hard pavements and will not injure the horses foot.

The principal feature of the invention consists in the novel construction of the shoe whereby the inward portion of the shoe is bent slightly downward to present a nonslipping edge contact to the pavement and whereby. said downwardly bent portion is slotted transversely to render it flexible.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view of a horseshoe constructed in accordance with this invention. Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional view of a shoe arranged upon the hoof.

Like numerals of reference indicate corresponding parts in each figure.

On reference to the accompanying drawings it will be seen that the shoe is formed of a strip of metal of comparatively thin cross sectional area and bent downwardly at the inner side thus forming the flat outer portion 1 and the inner sloping portion 2. The outer flat portion is adapted to fit to the horses hoof and is provided with suitable nail holes 8. This portion of the shoe fits firmly tow the horses hoof and the inner sloping portion 2 bends downwardly at a slight angle from the horizontal and presents a gripping edge 4 to the pavement. The inner side 5 is preferably slightly beveled so as to form a better gripping or cutting edge to the inwardly extending flange 2 but it will be seen particularly on reference to Fig. 2 that the gripping edge 4C comes in contact with the surface of the roadway and the sloping portion 2 holds the remaining portion of the shoe from contact with the road surface. This arrangement has two very distinct advantages, first in that the gripping edge ealways projects downwardly so as to grip the road surface and the flangeportion 2 projecting inwardly from the support of the hoof has a considerable degree of spring. This spring is rendered most eflective by cutting slots 6 into the sloping portion 2. In providing these slots in the inner flange a considerable amount of resiliency is given to the said inner flange so that the horse in travel is always placing its foot upon a yielding surface. This feature in conjunction with the non-slipping quality renders the use of the shoe very desirable not only for cold Weather when pavements are liable to be frosty or greasy but are equally as serviceable in the mild or warm summer weather.

It will be noted that a shoe constructed as described does not require the use of ordinary calks as the slightly downturned edge extending completely around the curve of the shoe presents a gripping edge all around.

A shoe such as described is of very simple and extremely durable construction and may be manufactured at a cost as low, if not lower than the ordinary forms of shoes.

What I claim as my invention is A horseshoe, comprising a strip of metal bent longitudinally intermediate of its width and forming a flat outer portion adapted to be secured to the hoof, and an inwardly and downwardly sloping portion presenting a gripping inner edge, said inwardly sloping portion being slotted transversely from the inner edge to form flexible sections.

Signed at the city of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, this 15th day of October 1914.

JOHN BIRD.

Witnesses:

E. HERON, H. L. TRIMBLE.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

